BY MELISSA ROLLOCK | OCT 17, 2022
(Stock Photo)
The Ministries of Foreign Trade and Business stand ready to work with the Ministry of Health and Wellness and manufacturers to reduce the salt and sugar contents of products and to make front-of-package labelling a reality.
This commitment was made by Minister of State in Foreign Trade and Business, Sandra Husbands, as she addressed the opening of the Ministry of Health and Wellness’ and the Pan-American Health Organization’s two-day workshop on Strategies to Reduce the Salt & Sugar Content of Foods in Barbados at the Hilton Barbados Resort, this morning.
She told those in attendance including representatives from the manufacturing sector, that the “growing epidemic” of non-communicable diseases (NCD’s) in the Caribbean and the resulting deaths, demanded that some action is taken.
“The issue of high NCDs, at its source, is really a trade problem generating a health problem, resulting in economic poverty for many countries. It is a trade problem because of how we manufacture goods which can affect the environment, which can pollute the soil and water and which can produce and process food that is unhealthy for our consumption.
“Therefore, the work of the Foreign Trade division which is tasked to advance our trade interests must be integrally a part of our defense system and we must be part of the solution. Line Ministries such as the Ministries of Industry and Agriculture must be at the forefront of this fight to support the Ministry of Health to help us address the trade problem that is contributing to NCDs,” Ms. Husbands underscored.
She said the solution to arresting the NCD problem had three tiers: implementing front-of-package labelling so consumers could see the make-up of products in terms of salt, sugar, fats, etc.; reformulating products to reduce salt and sugar levels; and re-educating consumers’ taste buds.
Additionally, the Foreign Trade Minister explained that Government must work with stakeholders who manufacture products as well as importers of goods, to make the transition of using and complying with front-of-package labelling a smooth one.
Noting there were some companies that were resisting the proposed new labelling, Ms. Husbands stated: “To kill your customers in the long-term, really is not good.”
She acknowledged that companies were recovering from the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and one of the “many issues” which needed to be addressed with front-of-package labelling was the cost.
“I know in this hostile economic environment, the initial investment by producers with regards to making such changes could be a strenuous undertaking, at this point in time…. Many companies are still trying to achieve some level of profitability after two years of difficulty.
“Secondly, there’s the cost of reformulation where changing salt and sugar levels may look easy but the manufacturer must now revise the formula to arrive at a taste that will sell in the market. It means investing in doing that level of research to rebalance your formula in such a way that it is still a viable product.
This means research and experimentation will become additional costs,” she explained, adding that some companies were using short cuts by reducing the sugar content of their product, advertising it as ‘low sugar’ but increasing the salt content to compensate for taste.
Ms. Husbands said Government and stakeholders needed to come up with a plan on how producers will navigate reducing salt and sugar levels for the benefit of all.
“We also have to work with our consumers because, as you would know, the formulations [of products] in the Caribbean are often sweeter because Caribbean people actually like sweet things. So, they often lace our drinks with higher sugar content because this is what we will buy.
“So how do we educate the taste buds [of consumers]? The sudden lowering of salt and sugar is not going to work. What we must do, is set a pace where there is that gradual adjustment downward, allowing the taste buds to constantly adjust to the lower taste until it is comfortable and that is how we will get there. It is a journey but it can be done,” she posited.
